Artist Info
Aqjangajuk Shaa
Aqjangajuk Shaa (Disc Number: E7-1065)
1937 - 2019
Born in the Shartoweetuk camp near Kinngait in 1937, Aqjangajuk began carving in the 1950s as a teen, influenced by family members. He briefly took up printmaking, but then continued with carving exclusively. In his carvings, he expressed motion, utilizing shape and form to emphasize the stone’s colours. The carvings of his in the University of Lethbridge Art Collection are of animals, Sedna, people, and scenes of Inuit life. Aqjangajuk Shaa has had multiple solo exhibitions and has been a part of a number of group exhibitions internationally during his art career. His work is in collections of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the National Gallery of Canada, the Winnipeg Art Gallery, the Art Gallery of Ontario, the Edmonton Art Gallery, and numerous others. In 2003, he was elected into the Royal Canadian Academy of Arts and he passed away in 2019.
Interesting fact: Shaa’s inukshuk is in the Scott Polar Research Institute at Cambridge.
Brothers: Kavavaow Mannomee
Grandfather: Kiakshuk
Mother: Munamee Shaa
Wife: Kilabuk Shaa
